The Trap is mildly amusing, but ultimately too straightforward and derivative to be of much interest.
WRITTEN BY
No specific credit.
PLOT
Upon discovering the current location of Servalan, Tarrant and Dayna get the bright idea to try and assassinate her whilst Avon's busy elsewhere. As the title might suggest, this doesn't end well.
ANALYSIS
Same old, same old. Servalan makes her thousandth mediocre attempt to try and ambush the rebels, and Dumb and Dumber nearly get themselves killed walking into it like idiots. In their attempt to escape, they crashland the Scorpio in a sequence almost directly copied from Blake.
Of much more interest is the subplot focusing on Avon's attempts to muster together an uprising on Muntal Minor(a former empire). It doesn't really go anywhere, but it's interesting to see Avon enjoy himself as an insurrectionist orator - he is described as being in his element in a role that can only be associated with Blake. It feeds my theory that very deep down on a subconscious level, he is just as idealistic and heartfelt as Blake was, possibly even more so. It's also possible to see this storyline as setting up the events of Warlord. Perhaps Muntal was one of the planets in the Zukan alliance?
CHARACTERS
Speechifying aside, Avon's humiliation and irritation when Tarrant inadvertently botches his big moment is hilarious. There's a strange moment towards the end, where Avon pointedly ignores his and Dayna's wellbeing in favor of the damage done to the Scorpio, and his apparent lack of compassion is treated as a big thing... even though it's been well established for years now. I mean, maybe Soolin wasn't sure, but the others definitely were. Lest we forget Terminal.
Tarrant gets punched in the face! And he deserves it. I don't want to dislike him and Dayna, but they make it terribly difficult sometimes. Their judgment is practically always clouded by emotions. I suppose it's somewhat redeemed by the fact that this is one of the very few stories to take Dayna's vengeance against Servalan seriously.
NOTES
*This story was published in the Blake's 7 Marvel Monthly issue 7.
*I'm not sure how Servalan even expected to snare the Scorpio. At least usually, there's some form of bait. But did she think Avon would come running just at the mere knowledge that she'd be there?
*It's a bit telling that Dayna's most interesting character attribute remains her dead father. At least Soolin has her professionalism and shady background.
*At least Josette Simon didn't have to act out Dayna's first scene of immediately bursting into sobbing tears at the sight of old Hal's photograph. Christ.
*I've seen plenty of deus ex machina over the years, but a "power reversal" slowing the Scorpio's crashlanding is a new level of no fucks given.
*At one point, Avon refers to the Scorpio as "the most advanced ship in the universe". Is this some leftover Liberator lore? Because aside from Dr Plaxton's stardrive, the Scorpio is meant to be a piece of junk. That's the entire point of the Scorpio.
*I love that Avon sends Vila to check the Scorpio for damage after retrieving it from Tarrant. I'm probably looking too deep into this, but I feel like Avon is just so mad at Tarrant that he's willing to even listen to Vila ahead of him.
INFORMATION!
*Dayna is driven to try and kill Servalan, because she murdered his father in Aftermath.
*The story is set sometime after Traitor, due to Sleer's presence.
*Dayna disparages Avon's attempts at revolution, as it's likely to fail 'like all the others'. I'm not entirely sure what this means, given that we have very rarely seen Avon actually try and gather an army. Unless she's counting all those scientists he tries to woo? And I guess there was that one time in Volcano.
*The empire of Muntal Minor predates the Federation, suggesting that it formed a considerable amount of time after space travel was established. Maybe say, 200-300 years ago?
BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE
TARRANT: The message seemed so genuine. How were we to know...?
AVON: By asking me!!
CONCLUSION
I've already forgotten it.
*It's a bit telling that Dayna's most interesting character attribute remains her dead father. At least Soolin has her professionalism and shady background.
*At least Josette Simon didn't have to act out Dayna's first scene of immediately bursting into sobbing tears at the sight of old Hal's photograph. Christ.
*I've seen plenty of deus ex machina over the years, but a "power reversal" slowing the Scorpio's crashlanding is a new level of no fucks given.
*At one point, Avon refers to the Scorpio as "the most advanced ship in the universe". Is this some leftover Liberator lore? Because aside from Dr Plaxton's stardrive, the Scorpio is meant to be a piece of junk. That's the entire point of the Scorpio.
*I love that Avon sends Vila to check the Scorpio for damage after retrieving it from Tarrant. I'm probably looking too deep into this, but I feel like Avon is just so mad at Tarrant that he's willing to even listen to Vila ahead of him.
INFORMATION!
*Dayna is driven to try and kill Servalan, because she murdered his father in Aftermath.
*The story is set sometime after Traitor, due to Sleer's presence.
*Dayna disparages Avon's attempts at revolution, as it's likely to fail 'like all the others'. I'm not entirely sure what this means, given that we have very rarely seen Avon actually try and gather an army. Unless she's counting all those scientists he tries to woo? And I guess there was that one time in Volcano.
*The empire of Muntal Minor predates the Federation, suggesting that it formed a considerable amount of time after space travel was established. Maybe say, 200-300 years ago?
TARRANT: The message seemed so genuine. How were we to know...?
AVON: By asking me!!
CONCLUSION
I've already forgotten it.
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